Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-fbnjt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-17T23:20:38.827Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Reviving the Swan, Extending the Curse of Methuselah, or Adhering to the Kevorkian Ethic?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 July 2009

George P. Smith II
George P. Smith II
Affiliation:
Wolf son College, Cambridge University, and a Professor of Law, The Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

Methuselah, it is said, lived 969 years. His state of health at death is not revealed. It can only be surmised that he was surely not robust and, no doubt, was subject to all of the infirmities of old age and the tragic indignities associated with senility.

Jonathan Swift captured well the “curse” of immortality when, in Gulliver's Travels, he created a group of individuals, the Struldbrugs, who, when encountered, dulled what had heretofore been an appetite for perpetual life. The Struldbrugs were allowed to be born totally exempt from the “calamity of human Nature,” in that their minds were free “and disingaged (sic), without the Weight and De pression of Spirits caused by the continued Apprehension of Death.” They were thus condemned “to a perpetual continuance in the World.” In his travels, Gulliver found some Struldbrugs well over 1,000 years old.

Type
Special Section: Euthanasia and Physician-Assisted Suicide: Murder or Mercy?
Information
Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics , Volume 2 , Issue 1 , Winter 1993 , pp. 49 - 56
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1993

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Notes

1. Genesis 5:20.

2. Swift, J. Gulliver's Travels (Turner, P, ed.). Oxford, England: Oxford University Press, 1971:208–14.Google Scholar

3. See note 2. Swift, 1971:208.Google Scholar

4. See note 2. Swift, 1971:213.Google Scholar

5. See note 2. Swift, 1971:214.Google Scholar

6. See note 2. Swift, . 1971:213.Google Scholar

7. See note 2. Swift, . 1971:213.Google Scholar

8. See note 2. Swift, . 1971:209.Google Scholar

9. Huxley, A. After Many a Summer Dies the Swan. New York: Harper, 1939.Google Scholar

10. See note 9. Huxley, . 1939:74–76.Google Scholar

11. Smith, GP. The province and function of law, science and medicine: leeways of choice, patterns of discourse. University of New South Wales Law Journal 1987;10:103–27.Google Scholar

12. Smith, GP. The Frankenstein myth and contemporary human experimentation: spectre, legacy, curse or imperative. BioLaw 1990;S463–82.Google Scholar

13. Smith, GP. Medical-Legal Aspects of Cryonics: Prospects for Immortality. New York: Associated Faculty Press, 1983.Google Scholar The California Court of Appeals determined recently that a terminally ill pa tient's request to have his body cryogenically preserved before his illness causes death (premortem) would violate his state's prohibition against aiding and abetting suicide. See Van De Kamp, Donaldson versus. No. B055657 (Cal. Ct. App. 2d Dist., 1 Jan. 29 1992), 60United States Law Week 1992 Feb. 25:2521.Google Scholar

14. Smith GP. Cryonic suspension and the law.

15. Jonas, H. The burden and blessing of mortality. Hastings Center Report 1992;22(1):34–40.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed

16. See note 15. Jonas, . 1992:40.Google Scholar

17. See note 15. Jonas, . 1992:37.Google Scholar

18. See note 15. Jonas, . 1992:36.Google Scholar

19. See note 17. Jonas, . 1992:37.Google Scholar

20. Anonymous. Euthanasia favored in poll. The New York Times 1991 11. 4;sect. A:16.Google ScholarSmith, GP. All's well that ends well: toward a policy of assisted suicide or merely enlightened self determination? California-Davis Law Review 1989;22:275–419.Google ScholarPubMed

21. See note 20. Anonymous. 1991:sect. A:16.Google Scholar

22. See note 20. Anonymous. 1991;sect. A:16.Google ScholarSmith, GP. Re-thinking euthanasia and death with dignity: a transnational challenge. Adelaide Law Journal 1990;13:480–92.Google Scholar

23. Kevorkian, J. A fail-safe model for justifiable medically assisted suicide (medicide). American Journal of Forensic Psychiatry 1992;13:7–41.Google Scholar A 1990 Roper religious affiliation poll showed that of a nation wide cross section of 1,978 men and women, 64% were of the opinion that in those cases of pain ful terminal illness, upon request, a physician should end a patient's life. This figure was a composite of Protestant, Catholic, Jewish, and other belief holders. Jezewski, S. Can a suicide machine trig ger the murder statute? Wayne Law Review 1991;37:1921, 1944 n. 131.Google Scholar

24. Smith, GP. Stop, in the name of love! Anglo-American Law Review 1990;19:55–71.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed

25. Smith, GP. Death be not proud: medical, ethical and legal dilemmas in resource allocation. Journal of Contemporary Health Law and Policy 1987;3:47–63.Google Scholar

26. 110 Sup. Ct. 2841 (1991).

27. See note 23. Jezewski, . 1991;37:1921–50.Google Scholar

28. See note 26. Cruzan v. Director, Missouri Department of Health.

29. See note 26. Cruzan v. Director, Missouri Department of Health. 1990:2852Google Scholar, per Rhenquist, CJ; 2856–57Google Scholar, per O'Connor J, concurring.

30. See note 26. 1990:2852 per Rhenquist CJ; 2856–7, per O'Connor J, concurring.

31. See note 23. Jezewski, . 1991;37:1924 n. 14.Google Scholar

32. Begley, S, Starr, M. Last rights. Newsweek 1991 08. 26:40–8.Google ScholarSmith, GP. Final Choices: Autonomy in Health Care Decisions. Springfield, Illinois: Charles C Thomas, 1989.Google ScholarElliott, C. Dying rites: Ethics of euthanasia. New Scientist 1992(134); 06. 20:25.Google Scholar

33. See note 23. Jezewski, . 1991;1922 passim.Google Scholar

34. See note 23. Jezewski, . 1991;37:1923.Google Scholar

35. See note 23. Jezewski, . 1991;37:1925.Google Scholar

36. See note 23. Jezewski, . 1991;37:1926.Google Scholar Because of his assistance in the subsequent deaths of Sherry Miller and Marjorie Wantz on 23 October 1991 40 miles outside of Detroit under circumstances similar to those surrounding the Janet Adkins case, on 28 February 1992, an Oakland County District Judge in Michigan ruled Dr. Kevorkian should stand trial for murder. Walsh E. Judge order Kevorkian to trial in two deaths: confrontation set up on right-to-die issue. The Washington Post 1992 Feb. 29;sect. A:3. On 22 July 1992, the murder charges were dismissed. Brown, D. Murder charges dismissed in suicide-doctor case: judge advises Kevorkian not to assist others. The Washington Post 1992 07. 22;sect. A:3.Google Scholar

37. See note 23. Jezewski, . 1991:n. 5, 6.Google Scholar

38. See note 23. Kevorkian, . 1992;13:10.Google Scholar

39. See note 23. Kevorkian, . 1992;13:11.Google Scholar

40. See note 23. Kevorkian, . 1992;13:12.Google Scholar

41. See note 23. Kevorkian, . 1992;13:14.Google Scholar

42. See note 23. Kevorkian, . 1992;13:19–20.Google Scholar

43. See note 23. Kevorkian, . 1992;13:16.Google Scholar

44. See note 23. Kevorkian, . 1992;13:17.Google Scholar

45. See note 23. Kevorkian, . 1992;13:25.Google Scholar

46. See note 20. Smith, . 1989;22:283.Google Scholar

47. See note 23. Kevorkian, . 1992;13:25.Google Scholar

48. See note 23. Kevorkian, . 1992;13:25.Google Scholar

49. See note 23. Kevorkian, . 1992;13:25.Google Scholar

50. See note 23. Kevorkian, . 1992;13:20.Google ScholarKevorkian, J. Prescription: Medicide. The Goodness of Planned Death. New York: Prometheus Books, 1991.Google Scholar

51. Keown, IJ. The law and practice of euthanasia in The Netherlands. Law Quarterly Review 1992;108:51–78.Google ScholarPubMed

52. See note 51. Keown, . 1992;108:78.Google Scholar

53. See note 51. Keown, . 1992;108:58–60.Google Scholar

54. See note 51. Keown, . 1992;108:60.Google Scholar

55. See note 51. Keown, . 1992;108:70.Google Scholar

56. See note 55. Keown, . 1992;108:70.Google Scholar

57. See note 51. Keown, . 1992;108:66 passim.Google Scholar

58. Fenigsen, R. The report of the Dutch Governmental Committee on Euthanasia. Issues Law & Medicinel 1991(6);339–49, 342, 344.Google ScholarNowak, R. The Dutch way of death. New Scientist 1992 06. 20:28. In the state of Victoria, Australia, a recent survey revealed physicians and nurses are practicing ac tive euthanasia, and a majority of them favor the introduction of guidelines here similar to those presently used in The Netherlands. Id. at 30.Google Scholar

59. See note 58. Fenigsen, . 1991:343.Google Scholar

60. See note 58. Fenigsen, . 1991:340, 341.Google Scholar

61. See note 60. Fenigsen, . 1991:340, 341.Google Scholar

62. See note 58. Fenigsen, . 1991:341.Google Scholar

63. See note 58. Fenigsen, . 1991:342.Google Scholar

64. See note 63. Fenigsen, . 1991:342.Google Scholar

65. Dawson, J. Last rites and wrongs-euthanasia: autonomy and responsibility. Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics 1992;1:81–6.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed

66. See note 58. Fenigsen, . 1991(6):342.Google Scholar

67. See note 58. Fenigsen, . 1991(6):343.Google Scholar

68. See note 25. Smith, . 1987;3:47–63.Google Scholar

69. Pellegrino, ED. Remarks, Symposium on the Ends of Life: The Legal, Medical and Spiritual Dimension, 23 02. 1992. Washington, D.C.Pellegrino EDGoogle Scholar. Rationing health care: the ethics of gate-keeping. Journal of Contemporary Health Law and Policy 1986;2:23–37.Google Scholar It has been urged that the judicial acceptance of the medical profession's presumption in favor of continued treatment is unwise and should be replaced by a presumptive right of families to exercise discretion over treat ment decisions. Rhoden, NK. Litigating life and death. Harvard Law Review 1988;102:375–446.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed See also Gibbs, N. Love and let die. Time 1990 03. 19:62–70.Google Scholar

70. See note 24. Smith, . 1990;19:70–1Google Scholar. See note 32. Smith. 1989. Smith, GP. The New Biology: Law Ethics and Biotechnology. New York: Plenum, 1989.CrossRefGoogle Scholar The majority view of the British Institute of Medical Ethics working party on The Ethics of Prolonging Life and Assisting Death on assisted suicide is that if the need to relieve intense and unnecessary pain or distress caused by incurable illness that cannot be relieved by other means—pharmacological, surgical, psychological, or social—outweighs greatly the benefit to the patient of the further prolongation of life, a physician who acts in good conscience to effectuate the wish of his or her patient here is justified ethically in assisting death. Boyd, KM. Assisted death: Institute of Medical Ethics working party on The Ethics of Prolonging Life and Assisting Death. The Lancet 1990 09. 8:610–3.Google Scholar

71. Efforts to place a voter initiative on the November 1992 general election in California permitting physician aid-in-dying under a proposed Death with Dignity Act have been duplicated by similar proposed legislative measures in Maine, New Hampshire, Iowa, and Michigan. A state of Washington referendum item similar to that in California was defeated last year. Prodgers, J. Matters of life and death: debate grows over euthanasia. American Bar Association Journal 1992;78:60–3.Google Scholar